The incident is believed to have occurred at around 9.30am when a male in a 14ft aluminium boat fell overboard about 200 metres off Haycock Beach.

The second fisherman on board attempted to pull his friend back into the boat when it capsized. He managed to swim his friend to the beach and raised the alarm.

Local Police, Eden Water Police and the NSW Ambulance Service attended and pronounced the man deceased. The second fisherman suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.

The Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol rescue vessel, ‘Sapphire Rescue’, also attended to assist the land based Water Police.

‘Sapphire Rescue’ was tasked by the Water Police to assist in the vessel’s recovery operation which took about four hours.

Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol Merimbula Division’s commander Barry Harrison said: “It was a very tricky recovery operation that ended with the return of the capsized vessel to the Merimbula boat ramp”. He also commented that it was not known if lifejackets were being worn at the time of this incident.

The dead man was from Albury, while the survivor was believed to be a Merimbula resident.

A police spokesperson said enquiries were continuing and would not release the names of either the deceased or the survivor.

“Police have been told the other man tried to pull the victim him back into the boat and in doing so, the boat capsized,” he said.

Police do not yet know why the man fell overboard.

Winds off the South Coast measured 10 knots, with swells of about one metre, the weather bureau said.